It's All in the Genes
by JoniLuvsChachi
Summary: Just a little fun with the Voltron Force. A brief history of the Kogane clan and what that really means. Takes place sometime between Crossed Signals and Roots of Evil.


**This was done totally on the fly when I had an interesting (albeit disturbing) thought after watching Crossed Signals. So, I thought I would have a little fun with it. :) This has nothing to do with anything, so please take it for what it is and enjoy!**

**Cheers!**

It was a quiet, spring night at the Castle of Lions, and Vince could not have been happier. In fact, the people of Arus had been blessed with several quiet nights since they had returned from the space graveyard. Lotor was apparently licking his wounds and Maaox was more than likely thinking up some new way to destroy the Voltron Force and take Arus hostage. Vince shifted the history books under his arm as he made his way down the corridor towards the study. The door was open so he happily let himself in.

He took a deep breath. He loved the study. Because Larmina was loathe to be around anything that resembled Arusian history and Daniel loathed being around anything that resembled, well, books, the study was always a quiet place to get away and think.

Today, however, he was not alone.

Pidge sat hovering over a number of open books and open parchements laid out across the wooden desk in the back. He was mumbling something as he read, only stopping to make a note on his laptop. He was very engrossed in what he was doing. Now he was reading a small book that looked very old. In fact, since Vince knew that the library of books was dusted on a regular basis, he wondered where the tattered, dusty book had come from.

"Hey, Pidge." Vince walked to stand in front of the desk. "Whatcha doin?"

Pidge looked up at him and adjusted his glasses. "Well, Vince, since we got back from the space graveyard and found out that Keith's family is from Arus, I decided to do a little research on the Koganes of Arus. I figured he might like to know a little of his family's history."

"Found anything interesting?"

"So far, not much. Most of the history books mention the Koganes briefly. Especially where Voltron is concerned, but they kind of just fell off the map after that." He grinned and held up the small book. "Then I found this in the back of the bookcase. It must have fallen back there and been forgotten."

Vince narrowed his eyes in an attempt to make out the faded lettering on the leather cover. "What is it?"

"A diary. It's actually quite interested." Without further explanation, Pidge stuck his nose back into the book.

Vince shrugged and moved away from the table to get Pidge some space. Vince hated it when people watched him study and wouldn't be surprised if Pidge felt the same way. He made his way back to the massive bookshelf and began pulling out a few that looked interested.

"Oh-my-God!"

The cadet turned to look at Pidge who sat stock still in his seat, staring at the book. "What is it, Pidge?"

Pidge snatched up the book and slammed it closed, causing a small cloud of dust to erupt from it. Without a word, he tucked it under his arm and raced past Vince and out of the study. Well that was just too much for Vince, so, with his own books forgotten, he tore out of the room on Pidge's heels.

"Full house!" Hunk declared proudly as he laid his cards out on the table. Lance and Daniel groaned and slammed their own cards down on the table.

"How in the hell do you do that?" Lance growled. "Everytime."

"I'm just _good _like that." Hunk replied.

Daniel pushed his cards toward the middle of the table. "Well, that's it for me. I'm all outta space cakes rations." He narrowed his eyes at Hunk. "And that was the last of the ones that I had put away for a rainy day."

"You mean hoarded." said Lamina, lounging on the sofa with a magazine in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at Daniel. "Besides, if Keith finds out that you've been gambling, you can kiss any notion of piloting Black goodbye."

Daniel snorted as he plopped down next to her. "Yeah right. If you haven't noticed, Keith has been a little too _occupied _since we got back from the space graveyard." He reached for Larmina's magazine to see what she was reading and recieved a slap on his hand for his trouble.

They all turned when the door of the rec room banged open, and Pidge hurried in with Vince just behind him, both of them out of breath. "Where's Keith?" Pidge panted.

Lance leaned back in his chair. "He and Allura are having some kind of _romantic _dinner tonight." He smirked. "They're probably somewhere quiet making out by now."

"We have to find them!" Pidge declared.

"Oh, no," Lance shook his head. "those two have been waiting for a chance to get at each other for years, and there is no way in hell that I am going to risk the Keith's wrath, or Allura's for that matter, to tell them something that can probably wait til morning."

Pidge fidgeted. "You don't understand. This can not wait!" He uncerimoniously knocked the playing cards off of the table and laid a book down in front of them.

"Easy, Little Buddy," Hunk said, "what's going on?"

The smaller man sat down at the table and took a deep breath. "Okay. So, since Keith found out that he's Arusian, I decided to do a little more digging into his family's background."

Lance yawned, clearly bored. "And? What did you find?"

"Well, I found his family history goes pretty far back in Arusian history. But the line dropped off about a sixty years ago. The Koganes literaly dropped off the planet." He looked at the bored faces around him and sighed. "But I found something else. There was a princess named Lorien and apparently she was a bit of a wild child. She was married off to some duke when she was nineteen. When she was twenty-two she was sent to Pollux for a year. The official record says that she went for study, but I found something that makes it look a little more suspicious." He indicated the book on the table.

"What's that?" Larmina asked from the couch.

"It's Lorien's diary. I found it when I was digging around in the older archives. It probably fell behind the bookcase. Looks like it's been there for years."

"Okay, Pidge," Hunk interrupted, "can we hurry this history lesson along, please?"

"Yeah, alright. So, according to Lorien's diary, she fell in love, and had an elicit affair, with one of the Knights of the Royal Guard. Kenneth Kogane."

"So, the Kogane men have a long history with hooking up with royalty." Lance grinned. "Alright."

"There's more," Pidge continued, "so Lorien ended up getting pregnant. To avoid the scandal she was sent to Pollux for the duration of her pregnancy. After the baby was born, Kenneth took him and left Arus."

"And went to Earth." Vince deduced.

"Yes." confirmed Pidge.

"So, Keith's father was illegitiment." Daniel said, standing up. "Who cares? Everyone's got strange goings on in their family roots."

Pidge shook his head. "You don't understand, Daniel. Princess Lorien was Queen Marina's sister. Queen Marina was Allura's grandmother."

Lance bolted upright in his chair. "Wait a minute. That means that Allura and Keith are..."

"**_Second cousins_**." Pidge finished.

There was a shocked silence in the rec room just moments before they all erupted in chatter.

"Holy crap!" Hunk howled.

"Oh my God!" Lance bellowed.

"Eww." Larmina wrinkled her nose.

Daniel said nothing, but fell to the ground in hysterical laughter earning him a swift kick to the side from Larmina.

"Well?" Pidge turned to Lance. "Do you think that warrants an interruption?"

Lance jumped up. "Yeah, I definitely think we should find them before they..." He stopped and looked around at the young ears listening. "Before they do something that they might regret."

Before he had even finished his sentence five sets of boots hit the ground running through the corridors of the castle.

Led by Lance, the group crowded into the dining room, but there was no sign of Keith or Allura. Two young serving girls were picking up empty dishes from the table. They jumped as the team ground to a halt in the doorway. Hunk was last, nearly toppling them all when he ran into Daniel, causing a chain reaction of stumbling feet.

"Where are they?" Lance demanded.

Caitlyn, the younger of the two girls, was in such a shock that she could barely answer. "W-who?"

"The Princess and the Commander." Pidge said, trying to sound less frantic.

"They finshed dinner just a bit ago." answered Lona.

Pidge and Lance exchanged worried glances.

Larmina pushed herself to the front. "Where are they now?"

"Um," Caitlyn looked at Lona, unsure whether or not she was suppose to tell them. Turning back to the crazed looks on their faces, she decided something must be wrong, and she would be better off telling them. "I think they went out into the garden?"

"Well, that's good." commented Daniel. "At least they're out in the open. No way anything will happen there. Right?"

Lance smacked him on the back of the head. "Don't you know anything? Soft moonlight, the smell of fresh flowers blooming...talk about an aphrodesiac. Keith may as well have dropped some spanish fly in her drink." He paused for a brief moment. "Huh, I never knew that Keith had that much game."

"Spanish _**fly**_?" Larmina made a face. "Gross. Why would he do that?"

Vince was thouroughly confused. "What's a spanish fly?"

"Never mind." growled Lance. "We've got to get out there!" He turned, pushed his way back through the crowd and headed toward the other side of the castle. The rest had no alternative but to follow suit.

In the Royal Gardens...

Allura and Keith walked hand in hand on the pebbled path, surrounded by the newly blooming flowers, guided only by the soft moonlight. It had been a magnificent evening thus far. Chef had prepared a wonderful meal for just the two of them to enjoy by candlelight. Then they had walked and talked in the gardens. Allura couldn't remember the last time she felt so exilereated. It had never been a secret to either of them that they had feelings for each other. For as long as she had known Keith, he had been at the center of her thoughts. For some reason, one thing or another had kept them apart. But with the new knowledge that Keith's lineage was not only Arusian, but that he was a descendant of a Knight of the Royal Guard, something had change. Moreso for Keith than for her. She suspected that one of the reasons that Keith had kept her at arms length for so long was that he wasn't really convinced that he was worthy of the Princess of Arus. Now, it seemed, everything was a go. And she could not be happier.

As the evening drew to a close, they stopped by the door that led back into the castle. She looked up at him with doe eyes, waiting for that moment when he would kiss her. She didn't have to wait for long. Keith smiled gently at her, taking her face tenderly in his hands. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward. Her heart sped up as she prepared for the inevitable.

It never came. The door banged open loudly, and a startled Allura, still standing unbearably close to Keith, whipped her head around. Crowded in the doorway stood the Voltron Force. They were all breathing heavily and looked as if they been running a marathon. Before she could even contemplate what they were doing there, they all screamed one word in unison.

"_**STOP**_!"

**Yes, that is the end. I really didn't want to get into the actual implications of what would happen if Keith and Allura ended up being blood relatives. Too much angst there. Humor is the point here. **

**Thanks for reading. Please R&R. Your comments are my reasons for writing! **


End file.
